Encryption
by Brave Soul RMS
Summary: When the boundary grew weak, the worlds made first contact. Humans and Digimon have met as allies, both worlds prosper, and the Union is formed as a result. But good things always come with a price. Full summary inside.
1. Arc 1, Chapter 1: Welcome to ALIAS

**Encryption** by Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon in any way shape or form. I only own my original characters and plot. That, and the bag of Swedish Fish next to me. Sadly, it is fading fast :(

This story is a rebuild of the original story, Rhythm Alias, which will be deleted in a few hours. After much planning and consideration, I decided to write this story at the same time as two others I'm working on because of a personal challenge imposed on myself as well as I think the original draft wasn't very good. I think this one is much better but I'll leave that up to you guys. Let me know what you think in a review.

**Summary:** When the boundary between them grew weak, the worlds made their first contact. Humans and Digimon have met one another and both chose to be allies. The worlds grow and prosper and in this peace, the Union is formed. But good things always come with a price.

Humans and Digimon with ill intent continually cross the barrier in hopes of causing havoc while bigger things are plotted just under the surface. In response, the Union creates ALIAS, an organization charged with keeping the new peace. Caught in the middle of the growing conflict are seven Tamers and seven Digimon, and all the while, their lives, secrets and fates all weave together. For better or for worse.

* * *

><p><em><strong>ARC 01: <strong>_Formation

**Chapter 1: **Welcome to ALIAS

* * *

><p><em><strong> :: D :: I :: G :: I :: T :: A :: L :: :: M :: O :: N :: S :: T :: E :: R ::<strong>_

* * *

><p>Humans.<p>

The dominant life form on Planet Earth. Gifted with intelligence and imagination, our species quickly grew to the top of the food chain, surpassing all others with our grasp over technology and science. As diverse as humans are, there is one invention in our world that brings all humans from all walks of life together in order to commune and share ideas: the Internet. From the time the first computer was put online, electronic technology has evolved in leaps and bounds and has become a staple in everything from normal everyday life to military command systems. Truly, it is one of the human race's greatest achievements, if not the best.

However, an unforeseen event too place sometime during the creation of the Internet and Earth's communications network beginning in its infantile stage. Ambient data began to coalesce and take form within the network and as the network continued to advance, so did this data mass until it was able to take on a shape mirroring that of our own home. It was the birth of a new world; the Digital World.

Naturally, with this new world came new life. Data from Earth poured into the Digital World where it in turn took on life in the form of the Digimon. Short for Digital Monster, Digimon are sentient artificial life forms made from this computer data and they behave as humans do. They have thoughts, they have feelings, they are capable of civilization, and they possess the innate will to survive, whether through conflict or otherwise. They are in every way our equals.

For a long time, the Digital World remained invisible to the whole of the human population until it was discovered by a group of computer programmers. The programmers then learned that the Digital World is constantly expanding and takes evolutionary leaps each time human technology grows more powerful. That brings us to the current problem:

The Digital World is expanding beyond its original limits. Because of that, the boundary between their world and ours is thinning, letting more and more Digimon into our world and allowing humans access to the Digital World. In order to keep things from getting out of hand, the highest authority of the Digital World, the Digimon Council, has deemed it necessary to create a sort of Digimon Embassy in the human world in order to keep peace. The Embassy is composed entirely of Digimon and their human Tamers and their job is simple: lost Digimon are returned to their homes, and rogues are either subdued or eliminated. Evil humans are kept out of the Digital World entirely to avoid incident.

I am the current leader of this organization of Tamers. My name is William Warrington and if you're knew around here, I have only three words for you.

Welcome to ALIAS.

* * *

><p><em><strong> :: D :: I :: G :: I :: T :: A :: L :: :: M :: O :: N :: S :: T :: E :: R ::<strong>_

* * *

><p>Evening was rapidly approaching South Haven. Its denizens took that as their cue to start slowing down, closing up shops and returning to their homes while the number of cars on the street thinned considerably. While the city district refused to completely turn in, the residential district was all but asleep. The crickets chirping in the cool mid-autumn air coupled with the sound of the local river made for a soothing lullaby that gently edged the town to sleep. Indigo crept towards the town from over the horizon like a blanket and the stars appeared all at once, finally setting South Haven to rest.<p>

But even so, there were still those in town who were not yet at rest and couldn't afford to be. Those who had jobs to do this night of the utmost importance. Vincent Sanchez was one such person.

Vincent ran at full speed along the hill overlooking his town's river in pursuit of a thunderous galloping noise. The teenager suddenly skidded to a halt as his target reached the pillars holding the nearby bridge up and angrily realized it was cornered. Vincent grinned in triumph. Looking skyward for his partner, he was two seconds away from giving an order had his pocket not beeped shrilly at that moment. Digging into his jeans jacket, he took out a red and gold smart phone and checked the caller ID before answering.

"I trust you've found the Wild One," the voice on the other end said in a distinct British accent.

"What do you take me for?" Vincent demanded with confident arrogance. "A rookie?" The Brit chuckled.

"Yes, because you are one, no matter how much of a prodigy you might be," he retorted. Vincent's face fell but he didn't let the light teasing get to him.

"Alright, alright, you got me there," he admitted. "We're on it, Matty; quit worrying. We got Flamedramon here with us, after all."

"You shouldn't be relying on him," Matty admonished. "This is your mission, not his. Do me proud, Skylark." Vince hung up with a confident grin stretching across his handsome face.

"You got it," he said under his breath. Looking skyward, however, his grin quickly morphed into a regretful frown.

"Great. I really hate to cause a scene on a nice night like this. It's just not cool." Vince sighed in disappointment while the dark figure that was his target at the bottom of the hill snorted in anger.

"Guess I can't stall any longer," he muttered. "Thunderbirmon, let's - !"

"_Fire Rocket!"_

A missile of golden flame shot out of the sky and landed with a bright explosion, narrowly missing the angrily mooing armored bull that was Vincent's target. The bull snorted, its breath misting in the cool night air, and cautiously backed away from the blazing patch of grass where the missile landed. The flames roared as they expanded and out of them walked a figure clad in flame-patterned armor; a man-sized blue lizard on two legs with a long crooked tail and a metal blade growing out of its face mask. The creature's eyes flashed crimson and it lowered into a battle stance, egging the bull on.

"You want me to shout '_toro_' or something?" Its voice was deep and even and without a trace of fear. "Come on, beefsteak. Let's see watcha got."

"Flamedramon, you show-stealer!" Vince shouted, his voice echoing in the night. "We were just about to attack!"

"That's what happens when you take too long, Vince. I get impatient" was Flamedramon's nonchalant answer. "Now, bring it, farm animal!"

The bull monster reared up with a gruff shout of _"Meteor Dash!"_ and charged heedless, becoming a bullet of golden light. Flamedramon hunkered down and took the full impact of the blow, grappling with the bull's horns in a deadlock. The bull furiously worked its legs, pushing forward with all its might but the dragon man held it back with little effort.

Catching the offending monster by surprise, Flamedramon slipped an arm under the bull's chest and with a great deal of force and with a loud grunt of effort, he flipped his opponent over his head and right into the flames behind him. The bull hollered in distress as its rapidly heating armor began searing its flesh that sent it into a panicky rage-fueled attempt at trampling the flames. Finally quashing the blaze, it whirled around, dizzy and confused, and a look of instant shock surfaced when it found Flamedramon not a foot away from its face with his right hand raised and glowing dangerously.

"_Knuckle Fire!" _the fire user declared and set his fist ablaze before ramming it into the bull's armored head with an audible metallic collision. The bull gave a deafening bellow of rage and began thrashing yet again, knocking away Flamedramon only for the dragon man to get back up and dust himself off with a bored sigh.

"Hey, Skylark," he barked. "This is your mission. How's about you two take this sucker out?"

"Huh?" Vincent, who'd been watching the battle as if it were a gladiator match, had forgotten that he was letting Flamedramon do his job.

"Oh! Right; sorry!" The boy slid down the hill to the battlefield, calling his partner over with a wave of his hand.

"Thunderbirmon, let's move!" he shouted to the sky. At elephant-sized shadow swooped down from the sky and caught him in a rush of wings. Thunderbirmon let out an earsplitting shriek, the lightning bolt horn on its blue face mask glinting dangerously in the light from the street lamps. Wide-eyed and frightened for its life, the bull monster turned tail and ran leaving a noticeable trail.

"We're gonna have to clean that up later, aren't we?" Vincent muttered from his partner's back.

"All part of the job, Vince," Thunderbirmon replied.

"Right, yeah, I know. Let's just take down this Bullmon here and call it a night. I have stuff to do in the morning." Thunderbirmon obediently sped forward to fall in line above the stampeding Bullmon, moving well away from the river and into the housing area. Aware of the giant bird's presence above it, the Bullmon let out yet another terrified bellow, lowered its head and charged recklessly into a car, spearing it with its horns and crushing its flank while slamming it into a wooden fence. With the car's alarm blaring in the background, Bullmon wrenched his head away from the totaled vehicle and ripped off one of its doors. It glared up at Thunderbirmon and flung the car door as hard as he could. Thunderbirmon caught it expertly in his talons to throw it back and bowl Bullmon over.

"Shall I end this?" the bird Digimon boomed.

"Your call," Vince answered airily. Thunderbirmon flapped away from Bullmon and took careful aim. His horn sparked with electricity and he flared his wings, letting the power flow to the lightning-shaped end feathers and coat his limbs. The thunderbird bringing his wings forward generated a thunderclap as he cried,

"_Spark Wing!" _A lethal hail of lightning-charged armored feathers rained down death on Bullmon. Like knives, they pierced his armor and electrocuted him from within. Bullmon's form blurred and destabilized as he fell, finally bursting into infinitesimal glittering particles that began floating up towards Thunderbirmon. The bird Digimon took Bullmon's scattered data for his own before landing under a street lamp and dwarfing the waiting Flamedramon.

"You show off too much. Thunderbirmon is powerful enough to have ended that fight a lot quicker," the Armor Digimon said curtly. "And you let it escape the Digital Zone," he added.

"Flamedramon, come on!" Vince said cheerily. "We got the job done. No harm done." Flamedramon silently pointed to the demolished mini-cooper, its alarm still blaring. "Well, okay, maybe to that car over there but nobody got hurt."

"Not good enough. You're a member of ALIAS so start acting like one," said Flamedramon. He then walked over to the car and kicked it to turn off the grating alarm before picking up the large egg left in Bullmon's place.

"You know he's right, Vince," Thunderbirmon rumbled sagely. "We should be taking this more seriously." Vincent frowned at the dragon man and then at his partner but decided not to pursue the subject, literally shrugging it off.

"So, we got any other targets tonight?" the boy inquired coolly, hands behind his head.

"Check your D-Cipher and tell me." Vincent took his phone back out of his pocket by its scarlet strap and flicked the screen from the bottom corner. The screen spun open to reveal a full keyboard and Vince pressed the Enter key to pull up a map of the area.

"D-Cipher's picking up two signals in the city district," Vincent recounted. "If we fly, Thunderbirmon and I can be there in a few minutes." He looked up at his armored partner with slight concern in his eyes.

"You think you can make the trip, big guy?" Thunderbirmon ruffled his feathers, generating a few sparks as he did, and preened his wing before answering.

"No, actually. My energy reserves are a low and I'm about to degenerate. I can make the trip home but not all the way into the city," he said remorsefully. Vince gave him a reassuring pat on the wing and smiled.

"Don't worry about it; we'll just have one of the others take 'em out for us. I'll call now."

"I'll go on ahead," Flamedramon announced before leaping onto the street lamp and bounding off towards the city on the horizon. Stretching his arms and back with a content yawn, Vincent turned to his partner to see him enveloped by an orb of yellow light. The orb shrank and exploded to reveal a round creature with tiny wings the size of a soccer ball covered in pink down. It blinked its large blue eyes and opened its small beak to yawn and fluttered up into Vince's messy black hair.

"Ready to head home, Poromon?" His only reply was a light snoring. "Heh, right. Real cool falling asleep on me, bud." He started on his way home, typing away on his D-Cipher before closing it and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Tally should be on her way now," he muttered. "She'll take care of it."

* * *

><p><em><strong> :: D :: I :: G :: I :: T :: A :: L :: :: M :: O :: N :: S :: T :: E :: R ::<strong>_

* * *

><p>The South Haven city district was, as always, a brightly lit hive of activity. Everywhere one looked, there was always something going on. Street vendors, late-night convenience stores, and theatres were commonly open at this time of night. The electronic billboards dispensed information to the public about everything from train departure times to notices for civilians, human and Digimon alike. A large and diverse area, the city district was a cozy and friendly place where one could always find a helping hand.<p>

Things inside the local diner, Schneider's, were settling down rapidly. There were not but three customers left within while the owner, a portly man with muscled arms and a wide jaw, wiped down the counter. Behind him, a stout creature with an onion shaped head dressed in a cooking jacket cleared its work station. The TV set above the counter was tuned to the local news station but the volume only went high enough to catch snippets of the news report.

"Hey, Al," the owner said to the teenager in the corner booth, "you headin' home sometime soon? You're my best customer an' all, but ain't your mom gonna worry?" The child in question pushed his chocolate brown bangs out of his equally brown eyes and huffed, annoyed.

"Mr. Schneider, I told you," he said in a raspy feminine voice, "it's 'Alex'. Not 'Al'." Mr. Schneider laughed in response.

"And I told you to just call me 'Schneider' but you're still as formal as ever," the large man countered. "C'mon, kid, it's closin' time. You need to head home." Alex picked at the last pieces of his cake before popping them into his mouth and bringing the plate to the counter. The onion-headed creature picked it up and gave him a friendly smile which was returned in kind.

"Thanks, Burgamon," Alex mumbled.

"Leave that in the sink, wouldja?" Schneider rumbled at the Digimon.

"Got it boss," Burgamon said obediently. "Night, Alex," he added over his shoulder.

"Sure is good that you've got Burgamon here helping out," Alex noted.

"You kiddin'?" snorted Schneider. "He's the whole reason I could start this diner in da first place, him bein' my business partner and all. You ain't never seen a human that can cook as fast as him."

"You don't think he's a menace?" inquired Alex, eyes shining curiously. His slender pale arms reached over to the tip jar to drop in a few bills from his wallet. "A lot of people say that about Digimon." Schneider's response was a booming laugh.

"Menace?" he cried jovially. "Hah! In seven years, I ain't ever seen Burgamon so much as harm a fly! Nah, he's a good guy." Schneider put away the spray bottle he'd used to wipe the counter and started drying off his hands with the rag.

"Way I see it, Digimon're just like us humans. You got good ones and bad ones and there's no avoidin' that." Alex shrugged in response. He already knew that much. "There are some stupid people out there that don't think that way but, think about it. If we ever had bad guys doin' bad stuff, the police'd take care of it. If we got bad Digimon doin' bad stuff, that's where ALIAS comes in."

"ALIAS? …Oh, yeah, them."

Alex vaguely recalled ALIAS as the peacekeeping group composed of humans and Digimon. The way he remembered it, the organization sprang up the instant Digimon started appearing in the human world. For the last seven years, they'd been doing a phenomenal job of stopping Digimon-related crimes and incidents and the world as a whole came together in order to form diplomatic relations with the already unified Digital World. It looked as if both worlds would prosper from this new brotherhood and the Digimon Tamers of ALIAS served as a symbol of this harmony.

"But even with ALIAS and this 'new era' everyone's talking about, there are still crimes going on. Good things come with a price," Alex noted cynically.

"Ey, none of that negativity in here, kiddo," said Schneider. "Now get on home; it's almost nine." Alex's already large eyes widened further in surprise and his skin got even paler.

"Nine?" he shouted incredulously. "But I thought I was watching the time! Aww, man!" He took off running out of the diner, ringing the bell over the door violently as he did, and waved goodbye to Schneider over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the dinner! See you next time!" he cried before getting lost in the crowd of Haven Square.

Alex clutched his jacket closed and close to his chest and moved at a brisk pace down the crowded city streets. He had to get home quickly or his mom would worry a lot more than she had to. He felt like an idiot for not listening to Schneider the first time. He'd have been home by now, he thought, berating himself. Oh, how he hated making his mother worry.

He entered the sea of people, apologizing under his breath as he hurriedly shouldered his way across the bustling Haven Square and to a street corner crosswalk. He jogged in place as he waited for the light to turn so he could cross and a news report came on the massive display board on the building ahead of him.

"_Breaking news from the Union," _the anchorwoman read from her notes. Alex and the scores of people around him looked as one at the reporter taking up the screen.

"_All over the world, spikes in illegal activity on both sides of spectrum leave ALIAS with their hands full. The peacekeeping organization has reported a rise in bio-emergences from renegade Digimon as well as an increase of crossovers into the Digital World by humans will ill intent. The reasons for both are unknown, but it seems as if a handful of these are complete accidents involving Digimon and humans finding portals to and from Earth completely by chance."_

"That's never happened before," a businessman muttered to Alex's right.

"I wonder if they're working on trying to fix it," came a distraught female voice. "I'd hate it if my little girl ended up finding one of those portals to get lost in the Digital World."

"If she did, ALIAS would find her in a heartbeat, honey," the woman's husband said consolingly. "We can put our trust in them."

"_Such incidents," _continued the anchorwoman, _"have been taken care of by ALIAS Tamers as well as Independents and all of the accidental travelers have been safely returned to their homes."_

The image on the screen changed to a strapping man dressed in civilian attire and a large purple grizzly bear with a moon-shaped patch of white on its forehead grinning at the camera. The man was holding up a purple device that greatly resembled a smart phone. At their feet was a little boy holding a soccer ball, looking relieved that he was going to get to go home.

That image was quickly followed up by two Digimon in a city park. A large scarlet dinosaur that Alex recognized as a Tyranomon sat on a destroyed swingset while the local children watched on in awe and excitement. The Tyranomon was confused while another Digimon, a Dinohumon attempted to escort his brethren to the Digimon Embassy building. The camera panned over to film the large silver building in the background, zooming in on the emblem standing on top of it: a large yellow "D" with a pixilated blue dinosaur coming out of the center.

"_However, while there have been benign incidents of crossovers, more and more hostile Digimon still continue to cross over into our world and wreak havoc," _the screen displayed a battle between a Tamer's Lekismon and a rampaging Kuwagamon, _"while a rising number of unscrupulous humans do the same in the Digital World." _There was a shot of a malicious bald man using an EMP to ravage a peaceful-looking Digimon village before being tackled to the ground by a large flaming bird.

"_Holy Angemon of our local ALIAS branch ensures us that both ALIAS and the Digimon Council are doing everything in their power to contain these incidents to make sure that nobody gets hurt, as well as search for a way to keep these incidents from rising and, hopefully, reduce them."_

Said Holy Angemon's face appeared in a tiny box in the top right corner of the screen, the top half of his face hidden by his deep purple face mask.

"_However, as a precaution, Holy Angemon has said that his branch is in the process of recruiting new members. Those chosen should be receiving the acceptance email tonight. The public consensus is that no one need worry; ALIAS is on the job and their high success rate leaves little doubt in their skills. This is Wendy Lee of Channel 9 news."_

The pedestrian sign lit up as the news report ended and Alex found himself getting pushed forward by the river of people. Breaking free of the current and rounding a corner into the alley he used as a shortcut, Alex checked his watch. Eight-fifty-five. He had five minutes to get home without worrying his mom and that was something he did not want to do. That and, after that news report, he did not want to get accosted by a renegade Digimon. Or human, he added as an afterthought.

"Guess it's a good thing we have ALIAS after all," he muttered to himself. There were no sounds in the alley other than Alex's light footsteps on the ground or and the muffled sounds of the city.

"I'd really hate it if something happened to mom," he mused somberly. Pushing the thought out of his head, he checked his watch again and his heart almost stopped.

"It's nine already?" he whispered furiously. "Oh, crap. Mom is going to blow a gasket!" Alex took off in a sprint down the alley, limbs pumping furiously in his mad dash. Reaching the end of the first alley, Alex made a sharp right turn into the connecting one, only to crash headlong into a wall. Alex fell back holding his throbbing forehead and blinking tears of pain out of his eyes. Moaning, he got back on his feet to glare at the offending wall only to fall back down out of pure fear.

Looming above the slender and frail Alex was a hulking humanoid creature with ivory horns. In the dim light of the alley, Alex vaguely registered its skin was green and that it wore a leather loincloth. Alex's eyes shrank in fear.

"A Digimon..." he breathed. The first thought that came to his stunned mind was to run but as he got back up to do so, a shrill voice rang out in the alley.

_"Baby Flame!"_

A fireball rocketed at the green-skinned Digimon only to be batted away and into the dumpster in the adjacent ally by the bone cudgel it carried. The impact created an explosion that scared Alex into falling for a third time and ignited the contents of the dumpster. The flickering blaze cast an ominous shadow over the green Digimon's face when it looked over its shoulder at Alex. The Ogremon laughed darkly and turned its focus back to the source of the fireball.

"You must be from ALIAS," it grumbled. "Guess that makes this runt your partner."

"Who you callin' runt? Agumon ain't no runt!" came an undoubtedly younger voice. A miniature orange dinosaur burst on the scene by tackling Ogremon to the ground at Alex's feet. The teenager jumped to his feet and scurried into the next alley where he found himself frozen, watching the scuffle in a mix of fear and interest.

"Great!" he moaned. "This is what I wanted to avoid!"

Agumon and Ogremon tumbled around on the filthy ground until Ogremon took the Reptile Digimon by the tail and threw him into the wall. Agumon expertly leapt back to his feet and unleashed a rapid barrage of fireballs on Ogremon. The Adult was overcome and thrown back by a particularly strong one but was able to rebound and lunge at the Agumon with a battle shout and his bone cudgel raised.

Alex's arm flew up to cover his eyes when the impact sent debris flying outward. He peeked over his arm and whimpered when Ogremon slammed his smaller target away like a baseball. Agumon quickly ducked under another strike and threw an uppercut at Ogremon's jaw, managing to stun the Adult long enough to bite down on his arm and torch it. Alex winced at that moment wondering if all Digimon fights were this brutal.

"_Thunder Cloud!"_

A bolt of lightning struck the ground between Agumon and Ogremon, throwing them apart. The spirited Agumon immediately sprang back up and leapt at Ogremon's throat but, curiously, he stopped in midair. After seeing Ogremon seemingly struggle with the same restricting force, Alex deemed it safe to get back up. Giving the two Digimon one last look, he bolted before anything else could happen.

"You two," came a strong female voice. A short humanoid Digimon dressed like a wizard in a blue cape calmly strode up to her captives with a girl behind her. The girl had a long plaid scarf covering the lower half of her face and her big green eyes looked dutiful, if not slightly nervous.

"Do you have passports?" the Wizarmon asked in an even tone. She pointed her staff at the Agumon and lowered it to bring the Child down as well. "Well?"

"Passport?" scoffed Ogremon. "You think a Nightmare Soldier needs a passport? Ridiculous."

"Hey, I was chased here by this guy!" protested Agumon. "This was in total self-defense!" The Wizarmon looked between her two captives before finally settling her stern gaze on Ogremon.

"Is he telling the truth?" Ogremon scoffed again.

"And if he is?" he defied. Wizarmon smirked. That was the answer she expected. Releasing Agumon from her spell, she pulled her staff towards her chest and flung it back out. Ogremon was slammed into the building wall with enough force to knock him out and Wizarmon levitated him over to her partner.

"Tally. You do the honors." The girl cleared her throat and took out a yellow and white D-Cipher displaying the Union emblem.

"By order of ALIAS, Ogremon, you are under arrest for the crime of illegal bio-emergence and attacking an innocent," she recited softly.

"ALIAS," breathed an awed Agumon. The little dinosaur grinned and danced on the spot. "So cool!"

* * *

><p><em><strong> :: D :: I :: G :: I :: T :: A :: L :: :: M :: O :: N :: S :: T :: E :: R ::<strong>_

* * *

><p>"ALIAS," grumbled an annoyed Alex. "Where the heck were they during a three-way Digimon alley fight?"<p>

His heart was still thumping against his ribs after the ordeal and he just wanted to go to bed. He trudged up the stairs to the third floor of his apartment building and wiped the sweat from his brow. Plunging a hand in his baggy pants pocket, he took out a small key chained to his belt and stopped at room 303. With a huff, he unlocked the door and steeled himself for what was to come. His mother would undoubtedly lecture him again.

Quietly, he pushed the door open and peered through the opening. The kitchen and living area were empty but the TV and lights were still on, something Alex marked as strange since his mom was strict about his sister not watching TV past nine. Stealthily slipping through the doorway and closing the door behind him, he checked down the right-hand hallway towards his mother's room. The light was off.

"Yes!" he hissed in victory. "She's asleep. Better than having her worry about me." Looking down the left-hand hall and noting that his sister's room's light was turned off, he allowed himself a small smile. He liked returning to a quiet home. It let him know his family was safe and sound asleep.

Alex yawned as he approached the fridge in search of a drink. He found one last water bottle and, feeling bad about taking the last one, he searched for a cup so he could take half. He was halfway to the cupboards when he noticed a small package on the table. Curiosity getting the better of him, he moved it into the light to get a better look and was surprised to see that it was addressed to him.

"To Mr. Alexei Evans, Apt. 303 Macedonia Ave, South Haven City," he read. He searched for a sender address but there was none. Picking it up and shaking it, he found it made no noise. "Weird… Wonder what it is."

Shrugging, he poured his glass of water and closed the lights and TV before retiring to his room. Clearing his desk of the scattered Digimon TCG cards that littered it, Alex plopped himself in a computer chair with the package in his lap and turned on his computer and desk lamp. He smiled impishly to himself as he wondered what was sent to him.

"A present from Dad, maybe," he giggled. "Or maybe something from school?" Instead of a gift, he found a letter sitting on top of Styrofoam padding, also addressed to him, stamped with the Union emblem. Alex's breath caught in his throat. He gingerly picked up the letter between his thumb and forefinger as if it were made of glass and stared at it for a minute. A letter from the Union? He dimly recalled the news report he'd seen on his way home and at that instant, his heart both swelled in anticipation and sunk in fear.

"Did they…?" Frantically, he set the letter aside and took off the top half of the Styrofoam protecting the package. Wrapped in a clear plastic bag was what looked like a smart phone with a gray strap at the top.

"No way," he breathed. "No. No… Nononono…" His disbelieving whispers continued all through his opening of the plastic bag and inspection of the phone. Its main body was a light gray color while the top and bottom were a bold black. A white selection wheel was present on the phone, centered between the call and end buttons and the circle in the middle was marked with a white 'OK'.

He held the phone lengthwise and flicked the bottom left edge of the wide screen with his thumb and it swiveled open to reveal a full keyboard. Closing it, Alex found a camera lens at the top of the screen and that the top of the phone had a thin slot in it but he did not know its purpose. Alex set the phone down and let out the breath he knew he'd been holding in.

"This… This is…" he struggled to find words but none came to him. "The letter." He snatched it up at once and tore it open, hands shaky. The top of the letter was also stamped with the Union emblem but that barely registered to him. Alex's eyes flew to the first line of text and he read in at a rapid pace under his breath.

"_Dear Mr. Evans,_

_It is our great pleasure to inform you that out of hundreds of applicants, ALIAS has chosen you to be their next Digimon Tamer." _He stopped and reread the line ten times to be sure of what he was seeing. Digimon Tamer? Him? Impossible! But there it was on the page in literal black and white.

"_The device you've received is known as a D-Cipher and will be essential in your future missions," _Alex flinched at the word, _"as well as in your interactions with other ALIAS agents and your partner. It will serve as your badge, identification, and link to your partner and is virtually indestructible. It is imperative that you __**DO NOT**__ lose your D-Cipher."_

Alex stopped reading for a moment, something suddenly occurring to him. The letter mentioned a Digimon partner but there was no such thing in his house. If they intended him to be a Tamer, he thought, then his partner should have been the one to deliver the package.

"Or maybe," he muttered. "That Agumon in the alley was my partner…? Or that Ogremon…" He shuddered at the possibility. Shaking it off, he kept reading.

"_Your D-Cipher can also be used in conjunction with cards from the Digimon TCG. The method shall be explained when you arrive at the Union building tomorrow. If you do not have cards, a deck will be supplied to you." _Alex glanced at his scattered cards before continuing. _"For now, please boot up any computer and connect your D-Cipher via USB cable. The program should initiate from there. Best of luck to you and we hope to see you tomorrow at the Union building for orientation._

_Sincerely,_

_William J. Warrington_

_Head of ALIAS"_

"Tamer?" Alex whispered, astonished. Burying his face in his hands, he let out a moan of disappointment. "This is insane! I didn't even apply for this!" He threw his hands up and groaned at his computer. Looking at his blank desktop and then at the D-Cipher, he referred back to the letter for instructions.

"Connect it to my computer. What'll happen if I do?" he wondered aloud. He picked up the D-Cipher and with a sigh, turned it on. The screen flared white and darkened again while startup scripts began to run. Alex considered his options.

"This thing's an ID," he recalled, "so maybe if I log onto the Union website with this thing connected, I can contact someone and tell them this is a mistake; that I didn't sign up for this." For a moment, he highly doubted his plan would work but it was all he had. The D-Cipher finished initializing and displayed the current time. Deciding to take the gamble, Alex found his USB cable still connected to his PC plugged the other end into the D-Cipher.

At first, nothing happened. Alex drummed his fingers on the desk, impatiently expecting the Union website to pop up once the connection was made but it was not so. The computer recognized the link as noted by the rapidly filling progress bar that popped up on the screen but did not act on it. At the one-hundred percent mark, the progress bar disappeared, leaving Alex even more confused and annoyed. The next instant, a black screen took the bar's place, its courser stagnant.

"Okay…"

_D-Cipher detected… D-Cipher ID No.: 0138. Name: Alexei Evans…_

_Transfer Program start up._

_Initializing…_

"Transfer program?" Alex asked. "What the heck is this thing doing?" A few minutes passed with the program doing nothing and Alex watching expectantly and apprehensively. Then a cascade of scripts and codes scrolled down the window, abruptly stopping after three seconds.

_Transfer started._

_Connecting…_

_Hotline._

_Access._

_Connection: OK_

A mechanical woman's voice spoke out of the speakers to a startled Alex. He was sure he'd turned them off before leaving the house that day but nevertheless, her voice filled the small bedroom, reading off the phrase that followed.

_Welcome to ALIAS._

Alex's hand flew to his face for the second time that night as his computer screen emitted a truly blinding white light. Internet static came from his D-Cipher and Alex was afraid the noise would awaken his mother. The light died down enough for the boy to squint over his arm and see that something large and round was slowly coming out of his computer. The object fully emerged and settled on his desk still glowing white hot. The D-Cipher ceased its screaming. Alex's computer still showed him the same message, "Welcome to ALIAS".

Hazarding a look at the thing on his desk, Alex saw that it was roughly the size of his head and oblong shaped. The light fully dissipated, leaving Alex looking at an egg with jagged red stripes decorating its surface. Tentatively and shakily, he extended a hand to it and touched its surface. It was warm and smooth and for a fleeting moment, Alex swore he felt a heartbeat coming from it.

"A DigiEgg…?" he breathed. He was at a complete and total loss for words once he took the egg on his arms to be cradled like a child. "Why did it…? But… How?"

"Alex? Are you home?" The boy's heart skipped a beat. His mother sounded scared and worried and her footsteps were fast approaching his bedroom door. Panicking, Alex shoved the DigiEgg under his bed and scurried to his door before his mom opened it. It flew open and he was greeted by his mother's pale frowning face. Brushing a shiny black hair out of her thin face, she adjusted her robe and fixed her son with stern blue eyes.

"What was that noise?" she whispered quickly.

"My computer," Alex answered breathlessly. "I was trying to get online and -"

"You didn't tell me you were back. I fell asleep on the couch waiting for you," she cut across him. "You know how I worry, Alexei. You're supposed to be home by nine to wish your sister good night and get something to eat and brush your teeth and you know the city gets less safe at night even with the police out. You could've been mugged or attacked or - "

"I know, Mom," the boy insisted, knowing that fact all too well. "I know. I'm sorry; I was at Schneider's and lost track of the time and -" His mother interrupted his fast-paced speech with a breath of relief and a light hug.

"Schneider's," she chuckled. "Of course. I should have known."

"You worry too much, Mom," the boy mumbled meekly. "Sorry for making you…"

"It's fine," his mother assured him warmly. "Just borrow a phone and call ahead next time, okay? Don't keep me in the dark. You're the only one that makes me laugh around here." She smiled wryly and kissed her son's forehead.

"What about Mari?" Alex suggested cheekily.

"You're a better comedian than Mari," answered his mother. She straightened up, stifling a yawn, and turned in the direction of her bedroom. "Go to sleep soon, okay? No late night netsurfing. And try not to make it make that noise again."

"I will," he promised. The moment his mother was out of sight, he dove under his bed for the egg and retrieved it. To Alex's shock, the egg suddenly hopped out of his hands and landed on his bed, a crack appearing on its smooth surface. The crack branched and widened until more resulted from it and formed a ring across the tip. It shook itself feverishly and somehow stood itself back up and remaining stock still.

Alex watched on as the egg crackled and occasionally shuddered as whatever was inside fought its way out. The top of the egg was away from the rest of its body by something black with big yellow eyes that stared straight ahead at Alex and blinked innocently. Alex edged toward it and lowered himself onto the bed to get a better look. The infant Digimon took that as a sign of aggression and the next thing Alex knew, a cloud of bubbles was blown into his face by the squeaking creature. It leapt out of the eggshell and tried desperately to bury itself in Alex's pillow, only stopping when it saw that wasn't possible. Still, it pressed itself deep into the pillow and glared at Alex while the boy wiped his eyes clean.

"Uhm…" he mumbled unsurely. "Hi?" The infant's response was to growl at him. "Okay, uhm…"

"Bo bo?" it squeaked. The creature was small enough to fit in the palm of Alex's hand and was completely covered in what looked like black fuzz. There were two bumps on the top of its head and its yellow eyes were growing increasingly less threatened the longer Alex looked at it.

Alex leaned in and the infant tried moving further away until it could do so no more. Alex gingerly petted the Digimon's fuzzy ear bumps, nervously smiling when it purred and moved into his palm.

"Nice to meet you, too," he mumbled. Then he sighed, running a hand through his hair as a flood of questions stormed his mind. How did this happen? Why was he chosen? And foremost of which:

"What do I do now?"


	2. Arc 1, Chapter 2: Initialize

**Encryption **by Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon in any way shape or form. I only own my original characters and plot.

**Summary:**When the boundary between them grew weak, the worlds made their first contact. Humans and Digimon have met one another and both chose to be allies. The worlds grow and prosper and in this peace, the Union is formed. But good things always come with a price.

Humans and Digimon with ill intent continually cross the barrier in hopes of causing havoc while bigger things are plotted just under the surface. In response, the Union creates ALIAS, an organization charged with keeping the new peace. Caught in the middle of the growing conflict are seven Tamers and seven Digimon, and all the while, their lives, secrets and fates all weave together. For better or for worse.

* * *

><p><strong>Arc 01:<strong> Formation  
><strong>Chapter 02: <strong>Initialize

* * *

><p><strong>October 17th<strong>

"So first I randomly get enlisted then the instructions they gave me to come to the HQ building turn out to be wrong." Alex released a sigh and gave the tall building over his shoulder a weary glance. The large yellow D perched proudly at the tower's apex glinted in the sunlight as if glaring back at the boy. Alex squinted and turned away with another sigh.

"And now I have to wait for some kind of emissary to come pick me up? This is annoying…" He could hardly even hear his own voice among the symphony of city noise as the humans and Digimon went about their daily lives.

South Haven City during the day was a nexus of never-ending activity. Before First Contact, it had been a tiny, sleepy little place but the advent of the Digimon catalyzed an explosion in population, commerce, and technology. The first new thing to be built was the ALIAS Headquarters and the various districts cropped up after almost instantly. The HQ building stood in the middle of the Digital District, the busiest district in the city if only because of the dense population of humans and Digimon coexisting there. The further one went from the Digital District in the center of the city layout, the less likely they were to run into a Digimon.

For some, this was a good thing. It meant that they and the people they cared about were less likely to get attacked by a rogue digital monster or one that had been disoriented from the dimensional jump. That reason alone made sure that the suburbs of South Haven were located the furthest away from the Digital District, in the area dubbed the Outskirts. Others found the safety of the Outskirts to bee to boring and instead decided to live closer to the action. After all, it was in the Digital District where all the most popular shops and apartment complexes were, and where all the new technology arrived before being distributed everywhere else. Mostly, though, the Digital District was famous for having the second highest Bio-emergence rate next to the Warzone. The difference between the Warzone and the Digital District was that nobody was fool enough to try and live in the Warzone. No-one except the outlaws, that was.

"Hey, are you just gonna stand there all day?" Startled out of his thoughts, the boy gave a little jump. He looked around for the voice's owner but none of the professionally-dressed adults, too busy with their own business, were addressing him.

"Down here!" the voice said again. Alex felt his face heat up in embarrassment as he looked down in his arms; he'd forgotten about his new partner, cradled in his slender arms. A pair of ruby-red eyes stared back up at him and their owner, a pale-lavender Digimon shaped like a bun with large floppy ears, fixed him with a confused expression.

"Alex? You okay?"

"S-Sorry, Pagumon," mumbled Alex. "It's just that…this is gonna take some getting used to." Pagumon nodded as best as a Digimon that was basically just a head could. At barely three days old, he was basically an infant but had rapidly developed a distinct personality ever since digivolving from Botamon a day earlier.

Pagumon made a face. "Buck up!" he said sharply and caught the attention of some of the surrounding adults. The Digimon and a handful of the humans laughed at how cute the little one looked while the more irritable citizens mumbled about distractions before moving somewhere else.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize," the little one said. "Hold your head up and look like a man! We're partners, so you don't got nothin' to worry about so long as you're with me!" Pagumon beamed proudly and Alex laughed a little.

"But, Pagumon," Alex said, stepping out of the shadow of the HQ building and make his way toward a bench across from the flagpole in the pristine white courtyard, "you're still small. I can't let you fight yet."

"And why not?" the Baby II demanded. The grin he wore was now a deep frown that made him appear cute rather than serious like he wanted. Alex opened his mouth only to hesitate and retract his words before they were spoken. He tried again.

"W-Well…"

"Well?" Pagumon pressed, eyes boring into Alex's. The infant Digimon's Tamer flinched and turned his gaze down.

A few seconds of silence passed between them. Then Alex answered in an almost inaudible voice, "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." Pagumon's face grew puzzled.

"Hurt?" he asked. He seemed almost insulted. "I wouldn't get hurt."

"You don't know that," said his Tamer glumly.

"Do so," the Digimon persisted.

"How?" Pagumon's grin returned.

"Cuz I got you with me!" The grin again faded into a worried expression when he saw a deep frown take form on his partner's moon-like face. "Hey, why do you look so sad?" His voice was soft.

"I'm not much use in a fight," Alex admitted, ashamed.

"You won't know until you try," the little one said supportively. "And if you can't fight, then  
>I'll fight for both of us."<p>

"I can't let you do that; I don't want you to get hurt," repeated Alex.

"Why not?" Pagumon was confused; Alex could feel it. But whether it was because of the Digimon's inexperience or a genuine lack of understanding, he did not know. Either way, the little one's eyes begged for an answer and Alex didn't have one. In the two-day span since their meeting, Alex had inexplicably developed a strong attachment to his new partner that he was ninety-nine percent sure was reciprocal. The mere thought of letting Pagumon get hurt in a fight was, for some reason, more than Alex could bear to imagine and while he had always thought of himself as a person who takes things in stride, this new turn of events was a lot for anyone, especially a fourteen-year-old child.

"I don't know why," he finally said. "I just can't." Young as he was, Pagumon didn't miss the tone of finality in the boy's voice and decided to leave it at that.

"Now, when's that emissary getting here?"

Alex looked up at the cloudless mid-October sky and felt himself loosen up. That was one thing he liked about having the Digital World parallel to Earth: the new sky. Looking up at it made it feel like living in close proximity to another planet, so close that you could see the very surface of the neighboring world hovering above just behind a translucent blue shroud. The Server continent and the Sea of Modem gazed down upon South Haven City. Etched into the mostly green continent were giant golden lines like the ones on a computer chip and File Island lay off the coast of the southernmost tip of Server. Alex took in the view, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Alex gave a startled cry and leapt to his feet displacing Pagumon and fumbling him between his hands. Heart thumping madly, he finally recomposed himself to see a blue dragon man wearing red flame-patterned armor standing next to the bench. It stood there unfazed by the boy's fearful reaction waiting patiently for him to calm down.

"Uhm… Yeah," he answered uneasily. He gave the imposingly tall dragon man a quick once over and shakily turned his gaze up.

Alex flinched.

This Digimon's eyes were red like Pagumon's but much sterner and focused. There was no innocence or confident inner fire in those eyes. Their fire was cold and held the kind of intensity that could only belong to someone accustomed to combat. That scared Alex. Scared him to no end. The sound of his heart pumping in his ears drowned out all other noise. A thought flitted across his mind for less than a second but that was all it took to worsen his fear.

_"Are those gonna be Pagumon's eyes one day?"_He looked down at the infant Digimon, who was gazing in awe and admiration at the dragon man, and shivered.

Convinced that Alex had calmed himself, the armored Digimon cleared the gap between them in one step and held out a claw in greeting. "Flamedramon." His voice was deep and rough; professional but not unkind. "You must be Alex." The boy gave a meek nod.

"Sorry if I scared you," Flamedramon said before Alex could give his full name.

"It's fine!" he hurriedly assured the Armor Digimon. Feeling Pagumon adjusting in his arms, he added, "Oh, this is Pagumon. My partner."

"I can see that," said Flamedramon. Fighting the urge to jump back, Alex's curiosity grew when Flamedramon bent down to the Baby II's eyelevel and stared for a moment. Then he straightened up and a ghost of a smile – more of a smirk than anything – graced his white muzzle.

"He's got good eyes. Strong." He looked into Alex's own brown orbs and gave a short nod.

"You, too."

Alex relaxed. Mouth twitching upwards in a small smile, he breathlessly said, "Th-thank you." Remembering what he was waiting for, he asked, "Are you the emissary they sent for me?" Flamedramon nodded again and gestured for Alex to follow behind him as he started off at a brisk pace. Putting Pagumon atop his head, the boy scurried behind him taking three steps for every one of Flamedramon's.

The trio proceeded in silence away from the unending clamor of the Digital District's center and towards the relative peace of Union Park. Alex had been to the park before; faint memories of family outings with his family – back when they could be called a family, he thought gloomily – arose when he passed the bushes of multicolored roses the park was famous for. Coming up on a paved cobblestone intersection, Alex set to turn left into the park square. Flamedramon turned right, into the trees and waved Alex over.

"Hey, where are we goin'?" asked Pagumon.

"Matthias requested you personally. I've orders to take you to meet him." Flamedramon explained.

Alex cocked his head to the side, an action Pagumon mimicked. The boy's mind was in complete disarray; nothing about this situation made sense anymore and explanations were seemingly all but extinct. _"A personal summons? Why me? Why am I so special? What'd going on?"_

"Base is a metal dome in the woods back here." Flamedramon's voice snapped the boy out of his quagmire of thought. "It's a little small on the outside but it goes underground so it's bigger than you think."

"Okay…" The boy said his mind in another realm. Pagumon remained silent when Alex's grip on him tightened. He knew he should say something to try and soothe his partner's mind but nothing came to mind. Pagumon whimpered and deflated.

"Alex…" he moaned somberly to himself.

Big brown eyes watched Vincent pace back and forth, hand to his chin and face scrunched up in thought. Amused, Lopmon twitched the pink ends of her floppy ears and leaned over the edge of her Tamer's head to look him in the eye as he was making coffee.

"Think he'll ever stand still?" she asked with a snicker. Matthias took her off of his dirty-blonde head and placed her on his shoulders.

"Who, Vince?" Moving to sit at the table in the center of the pristine white break room, the Brit sipped his coffee and let out a hearty laugh. "Nah, not him. He's never been one for waiting."

"He's gonna wear a rut in the floor, though," Lopmon joked.

"The floor's made of metal," deadpanned Wizarmon. The mage Digimon stood in the corner  
>with her arms crossed holding her staff close to her chest. Her hat was pulled down over her eyes and she looked to be asleep. She pushed her hat up with her thumb to reveal hunter green eyes as cynical as her voice. "It'd take years for him to do that."<p>

Lopmon frowned and blew a raspberry. "Well, excuse me, Ms. Sourpuss."

"Lopmon," Matty warned her. "No fighting with your little sister."

Vincent stopped his pacing and looked between the sibling Digimon. He laughed and pointed to them in turn. "Lopmon, Wizarmon," he said, "How are you two related?"

"Don't ask me," the sisters chorused. Then they shot each other glares and shouted, "Don't copy me!"

Matthias drew up to his full height and stretched out his back. He sighed when he felt his vertebrae pop and rapped his partner's horned skull with his knuckles. "Quit it." Lopmon rubbed her forehead and made a face at Wizarmon but kept her mouth shut when Matthias raised his knuckles again. How she hated it when he did that.

Vince heard a door slide open and in walked a petite fair-skinned girl wearing black leggings under a red checkered skirt, tall red and black hiking boots and a black tank-top. Around her neck was a thick plaid muffler that obscured the lower half of her face. She stopped in the middle of the doorway, a bottle of green tea and a can of iced tea in either hand, and surveyed the scene from behind wispy black bangs.

"Are they fighting again?" she finally said after a moment of silence. Her voice was soft and lilting like a lullaby, a trait accented by her accent.

Matthias nodded and gestured to Wizarmon. "You need to keep control of your partner, Talia."

Talia huffed, indignant, and tossed Wizarmon the can of iced tea. "Me? It's Lopmon that starts it, Matty." Matthias simply shrugged his shoulders and offered his sister a pleasant smile.

"True," he said jovially, "I just like teasing you." Talia muttered something under her breath and Matthias giggled. Vincent compared the siblings to one another: the serene and carefree Matthias (or Matty as the team called him) dressed plainly in beige cargo pants, a pink t-shirt and a white hooded sweatshirt; and the meek and soft-spoken Talia dressed in her dark colors. Matty wore his dull gold hair long and Tally kept her black locks in a short pixie cut. The only things that marked the two as siblings were their vibrant blue eyes

"How are you two related? Let alone twins?" he asked again.

"Don't ask me," the fair-skinned siblings said in unison.

"More importantly," Hawkmon interjected from his perch on top of the refrigerator, "where is that new recruit?"

Recollection dawned on Matty's thin face. "Oh!" he said, startled. "That's right; we've got an ickle newbie coming in today; how exciting!"

"You forgot?" Talia asked incredulously. She slapped her hand into her face and sighed.  
>"Honestly…"<p>

Then Vincent stepped in. "He's right, though. Flamedramon should have been here by now and he's never late."

"Is that why you were pacing?" Wizarmon inquired.

"Well yeah! Why wouldn't I be?" Vince countered as if the answer were obvious. He grinned and said, "Before this, I was the new guy. Now I get to show him the ropes!"

Lopmon put a hand over her mouth to stifle her devilish snickering. "Maybe we should see if this one's more gullible than Vince and try that fake initiation test again," she suggested.  
>Matty rapped her on the head.<p>

"Ow!" she shouted. "It was just a joke!"

"Regardless, he's late," Talia said. "You think maybe he got lost or mugged or something?"  
>The room went quiet and abruptly exploded into laughter. Hawkmon fell off the fridge and into Vincent's arms. Even Wizarmon let out a chuckle.<p>

"Good one, Tally. Flamedramon getting mugged!" Vince guffawed.

"Like that would ever happen," Hawkmon supplemented through hysterics.

"Like what would ever happen?"

As one, the group whirled around to see a stoic but curious Flamedramon standing in the doorway and an apprehensive wide-eyed child standing behind him. Vince grinned and dashed over to the pair eager to meet his new teammate. The boy shrank further behind Flamedramon and hugged his partner, a Pagumon, close to his chest.

Vince blinked, baffled. "Hey, what's up with him?" he asked Flamedramon.

"Shy," the dragon man answered. He stepped out of the way and ushered his charge into the room with a light push. "Go on," he said encouragingly. "Introduce yourself."

Now that they had a better look at the boy, the other Tamers waited patiently for him to speak, each of them silently sizing him up. He was a frail thing with shoulder length brown hair and thin arms and a round moonish face. His brown eyes were wide and shiny and bespoke obvious fear and the jitters. The boy's clothes were a bit too big for him and his jeans were faded and frayed at the bottoms but his black shirt and green checkered button-up were pressed and ironed to perfection.

Alex looked around from face to face trying to gauge their individual reactions and failing. They were all older than him, discerned, and that made him even more uncomfortable. The silence was suffocating. Shivering, he screwed his eyes shut and took a step back and would have turned and ran if not for Pagumon tugging on his shirt.

"Hey!" the little one called out in a whispered voice as fierce as his big red eyes. "Don't run away. They're not scary. It's all in your head."

Alex gulped. "But I don't know if I can –" he began.

"You can." Pagumon's eyes hardened, silently transmitting their courage to Alex. "You can do it."

The boy looked up at the other Tamers and their Digimon, expectant and silent, and summoned his meager courage. "I…" The others leaned in and strained to hear his voice. "I'm Alex…Evans… This is Pagumon. It's nice to meet all of you." The others looked at each other and, to his surprise, greeted him with welcoming smiles and introduced themselves in turn.

"Name's Vincent Sanchez but everybody calls me Vince! You can, too!" Vince flashed Alex a handsome smile then looked down at Hawkmon and nodded.

Hawkmon gave a low sweeping bow and offered a wing to Alex. The boy moved to take it, hesitated, and then delicately took it in his slender fingers. "Hawkmon, pleased to meet you. Vince and I go by the codename 'Skylark'."

Matthias and Lopmon chimed in next. "Matthias Wexler at your service!" He saluted them with a broad smile. Lopmon climbed onto his head again and waved with an ear. Pagumon waved back. "This little lady's Lopmon. Codename: Black Magic. We sorta lead this team, y'know?"

"Nice to meetcha!" Lopmon sang. Alex returned Matty's grin with a meek smile of his own.

"I'm Talia, Matty's sister." She and Wizarmon approached the newbies, a kind smile gracing Tally's pretty face and a bored look in Wizarmon's. Talia offered Alex her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Alex's apprehension melted and he took Talia's hand in his without a second thought. Wizarmon stared at him and Pagumon for a moment before looking up at Flamedramon for confirmation. The dragon man moved not an inch but Wizarmon picked up some kind of hidden message and nodded.

"Glad to have you," the mage muttered almost inaudibly before retiring to her corner by the cabinets.

"Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask," Matty said loudly before Alex could even ask the one he had in mind. "I'll answer them for you in due time. For now, let's get you properly registered and equipped, eh?"

"I'll let Datamon know to ready the DigiFarm with the right equipment," Tally said. She and Wizarmon exited the room via a door to the right.

"Cool. Vince, you want to go get him a deck?" Matty asked.

"Sure."

"Oh, no! That's fine!" Alex cut in a little louder than he'd wanted to. He produced a deck of  
>cards from his pocket and presented to them to Matty. "I have my own…"<p>

The older Tamer handed the cards back and smiled. "Good, you came prepared. I'll tell ya how to use 'em in a bit; let's just head down to the Farm and get Pagumon here up to par with the rest of us." So Matty led Alex and Pagumon out of the break room, Flamedramon in tow, into a brightly lit metal hallway and into an elevator at the end of it. A short ride later and the doors opened to a sight that made Alex and Pagumon's jaws drop in synchrony.  
>Before them lay a five-acre stretch of flat verdant land dotted with sparse trees and the odd traffic signpost. Half a streetcar was buried in the ground and overgrown with moss, to the far right was a giant barn, and a small glittering crystal blue lake was situated in the center of the area connected to a river that ran along the area's perimeter. A hand on his shoulder snapped Alex out of his shocked stupor.<p>

Matthias smiled down at him and made a sweeping gesture at their surroundings. "Welcome to the Digi-Farm."

"Digi-Farm?" Pagumon and Alex parroted in interest. Flamedramon ghosted past them and dashed into the forest. The two couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do.

"We use this place as a training room," Matthias explained. "Datamon, the guy we have who takes care of all the machines, maintains this place. The terrain is fully customizable but we'll get to that later. For now, let's get Pagumon to digivolve."

Lopmon jumped off her Tamer's head and fanned herself with her ears. "Then we start combat training!" she said excitedly. Her devilish smirk returned in full force and she did a little twirl in place.

"Sorry that this all so rushed," Matty apologized. He scratched the back of his head and frowned deeply. "But we're a little short on manpower, y'know?"

"Before we start, I've been meaning to ask you something," Alex began slowly.

"Well, now's as good a time as ever."

The younger boy set Pagumon down and twiddled his thumbs. Choosing his words carefully, he avoided Matty's friendly blue gaze out of sheer nervousness. Pagumon nudged his leg and urged him to speak. His question was mumbled and soft; Matty almost didn't hear him.

"So, like. I was walking home on the night I got Pagumon's Digi-Egg and before that, I stopped in Haven Square and saw the news update." He stopped to make sure Matty was paying attention and continued at a faster pace when he saw the young man was listening expectantly.

"Well, they said Holy Angemon was sending out acceptance letters to the recruits that had applied and all of that because ALIAS is low on manpower. I figured that's why I got my letter and everything but I gotta know." Out of breath, he blurted, "Why'd you choose me?"

Stunned, Matty took a step back and scratched his head in thought. "Wow," he frowned.

"That's kind of a hard question for me to answer." At this, Alex's face fell.

"Oh…"

"But, hey," he offered in a jolly attempt at lifting spirits, "Datamon has access to all the records from here. After this first lesson, you and I'll go check 'em out and see why, okay?" The boy allowed himself a small smile. Matty grinned. "Knew that'd sound good."

He sat cross-legged on the soft green grass and motioned for Alex to do the same. From his pocket he produced a purple-bodied D-Cipher with black edges. He turned it on and showed the screen to Alex, who took out his own D-Cipher and compared the two.

"This is the home screen." The home screen consisted of a blue background with a swirl design emblazoned with the Union sigil. There were six icons on it, three on either side: a folder with a blue card coming out of it, a phonebook, a circle marked with the cardinal directions and a red arrow pointing north, a CD-ROM with a pixilated blue dinosaur in the center, a miniature monster standing beside three progress bars, and a black sphere surrounded by lines of binary code.

"In order, those icons are the Card Folder, Phonebook, Tracker, Digimon Analyzer, Statistics Page, and Digicore. This lesson centers on the Digicore so touch it and we'll get started." The Digicore icon bounced when touched and expanded. A large black circle overtook the screen, a brilliant white dot in its middle. Five slowly rotating rings radiated outward from the dot, three of them grayed out. The smallest one closest to the center glowed deep lavender, the same color as Pagumon, and the one just outside it was only a third of the way finished. Looking closer, Alex saw the purple ring was actually a ring of what he recognized as DigiCode, the language of the Digital World.

Matty dove into explaining the basics of the Digicore screen. To digivolve, a Digimon must first upload data into its body, whether that data comes from a defeated adversary or from the environment. Alex listened on, suppressing the urge to flinch at the mention of combat. Matty went on to say that most of the data uploaded is used to meet the size requirements of the Digimon's new form but a small portion of it that he called "gene data" was integrated into the Digimon's core and, by extension, it's unique digital coding. Gene data is what dictates the potential new forms a Digimon could digivolve into.

"Machine, Dragon, Aquatic, Beast, Bird, Holy, Dark, Insect/Plant and Human. Those are the nine gene data types. Vaccine, Data, and Virus are the three attribute data types. When specific types are placed in the right amounts and sequences within the Digicore, it triggers digivolution into a form most suited towards the kinds of data within the core. Understand so far?"

"It sounds simple enough."

"Maybe to you," said Pagumon. "I'm totally lost!"

"Don't worry," laughed Lopmon. "It's a lot simpler than it sounds."

"That center dot on the screen represents your Digimon Partner's Baby form," continued Matty. "The ring just outside that is his Baby II form." He looked at Alex and asked, "He's a Pagumon now. What was he when he hatched?"

"A Botamon, I think," Alex replied with a thoughtful look. "I'm not too sure," he admitted, "I've never spent much time around baby Digimon. I just know he was a black fuzz ball with yellow eyes."

"Yep, that's a Botamon," Lopmon answered giggling. "Matty, continue."

"Right. The ring outside the Baby II ring is the Child form, which we'll be unlocking today. Simple enough, seeing as all ya need's one part size data, one part gene data, and one part attribute data. Touch the Child ring and you should have data packets pop up for ya."  
>Alex touched the ring and the screen blocked out the others to focus on it. It started to rotate clockwise and in the empty spaces where the other rings were appeared various symbols such as the head of a beast, a proud dragon, and a silver cross. Curious, he touched the green beast head symbol and his interest grew when a green double helix popped out of it. The spinning helix grew and became a column of paired DigiCode letters on the right edge of the screen. Most of the pairs had no compliment and most sections were missing entirely.<p>

Matty grinned, his eyes shining in amusement.

"Here's the part that trips most of the newbies up. Tap the areas where code is missing and try to finish the gene segment. Tapping cycles through the bases. It's like a DNA puzzle game and –"

"I finished."

"Wow, that was fast," Pagumon and Lopmon chorused.

"What?" Alex showed Matty his D-Cipher and to the older boy's amazement, Alex had solved the Beast Data gene segment like it was nothing. The young Tamer dragged the genome into the grayed out circle where it joined with the third of size data and took up the next third of the ring. "Well, I'll be a baboon's uncle."

Alex shifted in place and smiled shyly. "I've always been good at puzzle games," he mumbled.

"Don't be shy about it, mate." Matty checked the screen to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Damn. That's some real talent there; go on and finish."

Alex took his deck of cards out of his pocket and shuffled through them before finding the one he wanted: a Gazimon card. Presenting it to Matty, he said, "Gazimon was my favorite card. You think maybe I could get Pagumon to turn into him?"

"You're in luck," said Matty. "Pagumon have many different possible forms but Gazimon is the most common one. All ya need there is Virus data and you're done. A white square with a black "Vi" produced a black helix that Alex was told to place right into the ring.

"Attribute data doesn't need to be decoded," explained Lopmon. "You should be ready now." The data icons disappeared from the screen, replaced by silhouettes in the center of the newly formed ring. Alex used the selection ring on the D-Cipher to cycle through them, each lighting up when he stopped to see them. There were only three choices: a rotund purple Digimon with large bat wings growing out of it, a furry frog-like creature with black spines running down its back and a creature covered in thick dull gray fur possessing oversized front claws and ruby red eyes like Pagumon's.

Pagumon shoved his face in front of the screen. "Is that what I'm gonna turn into?"

Without a word, Alex touched the Gazimon on the screen and the newly coded ring became an iridescent white. It returned to the main Digicore screen and settled itself in and for a moment nothing happened. Then Pagumon began to shiver and glow as a crystalline black orb engulfed him. Green letters flashed rapidly one after the other on the screen and from within the D-Cipher, a woman's voice spoke the word they spelled out:

**D I G I V O L U T I O N**

_Pagumon digivolve to…!_

* * *

><p><strong>One week later<strong>**  
><strong>**October 24th**

_"This is a message from ALIAS to the citizens of South Haven: A bio-emergence is in progress. Please exit the Digital Zone and move to the outside of the barricade. I repeat, please move exit the Digital Zone and…"_

The droning voice of the riot officer over the megaphone barely registered to the young agents. They had better things to think about like which cards to use and what attack patterns they remembered well enough to execute. Hearts pumped faster, muscles tensed, and fingers twitched all in anticipation of what was to come. Inside the Digital Zone was a Digimon making the jump from its world to the Real World and ready or not, it was the Tamer's job to fight. Vincent, Alex and their partners stood just at a three-way intersection under the elevated train tracks awaiting orders as people exhibiting varying degrees of alarm poured out of a massive eerily perfect dome of fog covering six square blocks of the Metro District. People moved around the young ALIAS agents and their overseer like they were a raging river and the boys a boulder in their path.

As always, Flamedramon's visage betrayed nothing of his emotions. He was still as a statue. Vincent was the picture of confidence standing tall and brave amidst shouts and murmurs and orders to evacuate. Beside him, Hawkmon flapped his arms to stay aloft and scanned through the fog with his sharp eyes. Next to them were Alex and Gazimon looking comparatively more nervous. Alex, wide-eyed and jittery, fiddled with his D-Cipher and muttered under his breath in a vain attempt at calming down. Gazimon, however, showed no signs of fear; his fur stood on end and he scratched at the ground grinning widely. This was Alex's first mission after a full week of basic training. Matthias and the others had assured him that he had the necessary tools to succeed but, ever the doubter, Alex wasn't so sure of himself. Gazimon had been there to try and bolster his spirits but nothing could get past the boy's paranoia that something would go wrong.

Vince looked at Alex, shivering in place chanting, and then at Flamedramon. He frowned.  
>"You really think he should be out here?" he asked, voice full of concern. He hardly knew the other boy but seeing anyone act as scared as the new recruit was now made him worry.<br>"He's shaking like a leaf. I know," said Flamedramon. Claws flexed. His tail straightened. "But don't forget; he was chosen by Holy Angemon just like you were. He wouldn't have if he didn't think the kid could do it."

Vincent cast Alex another look. "Yeah," he began, "but…"

"I'll be fine," Alex insisted, having caught every word. The anxiety had amplified his perception so much he felt like he could see and hear everything.

"Are you sure?" asked Hawkmon.

"We're sure," he and Gazimon answered.

"I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'll be fine." Alex chanted his mantra to nobody but himself. He took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly through his nose. Thankfully, his shivering stopped. "I'll be fine. I can't disappoint Dad." With that thought, he sank into a memory.

* * *

><p><em>"You're a special case,"<em>_Holy Angemon had said a week ago with an edge of curiosity.__ Matthias and Lopmon had finished training and led Alex and a slightly battered Gazimon into the Control Room, a large alcove filled with complex machines surrounding a huge monitor and console. A small robot with extendible hands by the name of Datamon ran the room and was grumbling over the fact that there were new people in it. Datamon had not come off as the most sociable person. The archangel Digimon had Datamon pull up Alex's profile from the ALIAS database and went on._

_"When I first saw your file, I was going to just skip over it. You didn't seem like the type to want to do something like this._

_"That's because I'm not.__" __ The waning buzz from Gazimon's digivolution and learning to use the D-Cipher coupled with Holy Angemon's stoic and commanding presence had forced the boy back into the shell of his meek demeanor._

_"I never signed up. So why choose me?"_

_"That's something I wouldn't mind knowin' either, boss," Matthias chimed in, uncharacteristically serious._

_"He's four years under the minimum age for applicants, too. We should probably be sending him home," Lopmon added._

_Holy Angemon said nothing for a moment and took the console controls away from an unwilling Datamon. He opened a letter attached to Alex's forged application and gestured to it. Alex read it and came away with a positively gobsmacked expression. The note was hardly a paragraph long but its contents were unimportant. It was the signature at the bottom that caught the boy's eye._

_"To whom it may concern:_

_I am submitting this application to Holy Angemon of the South Haven ALIAS branch as a formal request. I am not Alexei Evans but I do this in his name and for his benefit. This boy is meek and shy and not the best at forming bonds. I feel this is entirely my fault. But you must understand that, due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, I cannot be there to teach him the things a growing boy like him needs to learn. I cannot teach him honor or courage or integrity or the importance of one's friends. You can only imagine how painful that is for me, not being able to be there for him._

_So I'm calling in that favor, Holy Angemon. I'm sending you a DigiEgg and a D-Cipher programmed just for him. Teach him to use the device and how to bond with the Digimon inside the egg. Teach him to be brave and stand on his own two feet. I want him to grow up into a fine lad and, seeing as how I can't be there to do it, I entrust this task to you, old friend. Please, teach Alex how to be a man. I'm counting on you._

_Sincerely,_

_Mikhail Altukhov"_

* * *

><p>"Alex, it's coming!" Gazimon's shout tore the memory from Alex's eyes. Frantically, he looked around; Flamedramon had dropped into a battle stance, Hawkmon hovered protectively above Vincent, who had a hand of five cards in his right hand and his red and gold D-Cipher in the other.<p>

"It's starting!" Flamedramon barked. "Get ready!"

Alex gripped his own D-Cipher and held it to his chest like a crucifix. Like a lost memento from someone dear to him. He stopped shaking as best he could. He steeled his nerves and took a deep breath. "This is it."

"Partner." Gazimon's ruby red eyes gave him a calm stare. "Are you ready?" There it was again, the boy thought. That look Gazimon would give him that reminded him they'd grown closer.

"As I'll ever be," was his sincere answer.

A hundred feet away from the group materialized a wireframe arranged in the shape of a human man and a glowing red orb. Data coalesced around it, innumerable bits of light flowing into the orb, the Digicore. From the core outward spread skin that burst into burnt-gold flame in an instant. Two white eyes shining bright as stars cut through the fog. What followed them was groaning as if the figure the eyes belonged to had a headache. The groans grew louder and exploded into a full blown roar of anguish that echoed through the now empty block. A whoosh of flame and the temperature spiked as the figure stalked towards them moaning like a zombie. Alex suppressed a scream the man made of fire stopped and stared them down.

"Meramon," Gazimon said somehow knowing the name of their adversary.

"Great," spat Flamedramon. "Can't use my fire."

"Alex, cover me and Hawkmon, alright?" Vince ordered. "Don't let it leave the Digital Zone."

"Got it." Alex took one last steadying breath and ordered Gazimon forward. The little beast charged with the other Digimon on his tail; Meramon howled and stoked his body's flames. The battle was on.

Time to be a man.  
><em><br>_


End file.
